Class Warfare: Isn't That an Old Movie from the 1930s?

The Senate voted against allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for those making over $250,000 today as the Democrats waged class warfare in an apparent belief that such tactics win votes in this day and age. They insisted on getting on the record as being in favor of raising taxes in the middle of a recession with unemployment at 9.8%. They insisted on a vote. They insisted on publicity. They insist they are going to run on this record. The Republicans, meanwhile, said "Uh, OK, sure" and couldn't believe their luck. The Washington Times reports:

The Senate blocked President Obama's and Democratic leaders' tax cut plans Saturday in a foreordained symbolic vote that now sends both sides back to the negotiating table to work out a viable deal.

A bipartisan filibuster, led by unified Republicans and joined by four Democrats and one independent, proved there isn't enough support to back Mr. Obama's preferred option to extend income tax cuts for couples making less than $250,000 and tax increases for those making more than that.

With that vote out of the way, attention turns back to the high-level working group Mr. Obama and congressional leaders set up this week to try to work out a solution. That group met three times already, but Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican and one of the negotiators, said it was clear to him that Democrats weren't going to negotiate until they had gone through the votes to prove to their political base that raising taxes on the wealthy wasn't viable.

"It's been very clear that we're not going to be negotiating anything until all of this political process is over, until the partisan votes have been cast," he said an hour before the votes in a rare weekend Senate session.

The negotiators seem to be headed toward an agreement that would extend all the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts temporarily. Still to be decided was what sweeteners Democrats would secure to make swallowing the tax cuts more palatable. Possible options included extended unemployment benefits.

As even many moderately sensible Democrats are coming to realize, Obama/Pelosi/Reid are collectively crazy. They are total captives of the hippie wing of the Democratic Party and they are dragging the Democratic Party as a whole into a deep, dark, electoral hole where it is going to disappear for a long, long time.

Raising taxes on the rich during a recession is the triumph of ideology over reason. Take eight minutes to watch this video and see why. Be sure to watch for Obama's answer to the question on capital gains tax posed by the debate moderator during the primary debates. He didn't try to hide his Marxist, class warfare attitude then and I give him credit for that. His answer is absolutely shocking and totally incompatible with any kind of moderate or reasonable position on economic issues. It should come as no surprise that the Democrats are going down in a flame of class warfare rhetoric. It is sad, but not surprising.